Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu will not shift from his earlier push against the marginalization of the South-East region even if he is released from detention
This is also as he advised the Federal Government against using Kanu’s release for the 2027 presidential election campaign.
Kanunta, who spoke exclusively to our correspondent, also commented on the arrest of the self-acclaimed Prime Minister of Biafra Government in Exile, Simon Ekpa.
He emphasized that Nnamdi Kanu will continue to press for infrastructural upgrade in the South-East region.
“His release will not change anything because he made a simple demand on August 30, 2017, at the Enugu State Government House, which was the time of Obiano.
“In the eight agenda he gave to them, he never made mention of anything about Biafra.
“He said you will have to provide us with what we need, which are good roads, hospitals, education, build factories to create employment; these were his demands, it’s everywhere.
“His demands are very simple, do all he asked you to do – in a worst-case scenario where they can’t meet all these things, why can’t they think about going back to the 1960 constitution that gives people regional autonomy? Those were his demands, he never mentioned Biafra as a condition for him to tone down agitation,” Kanunta stated.
Asked whether Kanu would tone down on his agitation if these demands were met, he answered: “He is still there with them, they should dialogue with him; why is it difficult for them to dialogue with him? That is where the problem is, they don’t want to dialogue with him but he is the right person that can tell them this is what I want; there are people he is working for who understand but they have to dialogue with him.
“After that 2017 meeting, what did they do? Dave Umahi who was the then Chairman of the Southeast Governors Forum went to Abuja and sent Operation Python Dance to come to my house and kill everybody, that was exactly what happened.
“Anybody who knows Kanu should know that he’s resolute and never a problem, he meant well for everybody till tomorrow.
“There won’t be the need for agitation, because if everybody is comfortable, there won’t be so much talk about Kanu; is he the only one agitating? Sowore is there agitating, the Northern part of Nigeria is saying the same thing that they are being suppressed.
“The people are tired of the union; something must change, it’s time Mr President must call the people and listen to them, there is no way we can allow the United Kingdom to be running Nigeria from London.
“There are a lot of court orders but the Nigerian government has refused to obey these orders which is very sad and that means nothing meaningful will happen in Nigeria because the judiciary, the masses, and journalists that should come out and say enough of this mess are not saying enough.
“I don’t think anybody is comfortable in this country, Nigeria; how can you buy a bag of rice for N100,000; how much is people’s salary? Nobody should blame anybody, what we are seeking is a better life, the price of petrol is adding – in Venezuela, it’s the opposite side of it – so what is wrong in that country, that’s the question everybody is asking; so nobody should blame anybody for agitating because if Nigeria is functioning nobody will want to do that but at the moment, it’s not functioning and it will never function, unless they do a thorough overhauling in that country.”
Speculation on Northern Oligarchy being behind Kanu’s continued detention
“I don’t think so in my own view, even though my brother was renditioned during Buhari’s administration and President Bola Tinubu inherited it, he’s still playing along the line.
“Everybody will say so because it’s in Tinubu’s hands to say enough of this mess, we have to move this country forward and Kanu will be released, but he doesn’t want to do it. That implies in everybody’s thinking that could it be that Tinubu is siding with the Northern and Fulani Oligarchy to continue detaining Kanu due to the 2027 elections. That is another question people will ask, but in another way, I would say no.
“Those behind this are those benefiting from the insecurity in the Southeast. The Southeast politicians and governors who refused up till this day to go and see Mr President to ask why Nnamdi Kanu is still detained, these are the people benefiting from all these things. This is because all of them are thinking about 2026-2027 to be Vice President in one party or the other, they are the people behind the insecurity because they are benefitting from it.
“If you remember, when my brother was in detention, they refused to disclose how much the Southeast, especially Imo State, was taking as security allocation every month which runs in billions. Why? Some people are benefitting from the insecurity and the detention of my brother.
“It was on record that anytime he goes to court, it costs them almost N500 million to provide my brother security to go to a court that’s in Abuja, so who is approving that money? Who is signing the cheque and where is the money going? These are the things that people need to address but as far as I’m concerned, Southeast politicians have hands in the continued detention of my brother. I’m not excluding anybody from the governors to the least, unless they prove otherwise.”
Bianca Ojukwu’s possible intervention
“Yes, if she said but then it’s a hope until it happens, that’s when we will know that it’s reality; for now anybody can say that. She is pressing to make sure that as the Minister of State, Mr President should understand the situation on ground. Probably those advising Mr President are not doing that properly maybe because of the money they are getting. They can pay a lot of people to stop others from seeing Mr President, we know what is happening because we have our own intelligence but we are not talking about it because that’s what is happening.
“Even those in power trying to see Mr President, it is a problem because those of them working in the office of the Presidency are stopping people who can tell the president the truth from seeing him, because Southeast politicians are lobbying them so that Mr President will not know the truth.
“At this point in time, it might be an opportunity for Bianca Ojukwu to tell Mr President, ‘this is the situation of things in the Southeast’, that those people telling him to detain Kanu are the problem of the Southeast and not Kanu as the case may be.”
Simon Ekpa and insecurity in the South-East
“I will take it one after the other; the insecurity in the Southeast is being fueled by politicians, if you could remember; there was an incident that happened in Owerri where a police officer killed a DSS man in the name of unknown gunmen. It was later discovered that the person killed was a member of the DSS; they are the ones causing this mayhem; they are the ones used by the politicians to kill, kidnap, and harvest people’s organs.
“When you talk about insecurity in the Southeast and Simon Ekpa in Finland – I laugh because I don’t want to talk about it – you know for what reason? For the simple reason that when they were asking him if he is the Prime Minister of Biafra, he said he is a content creator. The fact that he’s a content creator and not a freedom fighter, I don’t think he has anything to do with what is happening to Kanu or in the Southeast.
“It’s saddening that what he is doing, he is being sponsored by a few politicians in Nigeria which is what most people do not know. They are the ones behind all these things that are happening, so why is everybody pushing it on Nnamdi Kanu?
“Every crime they commit they say it’s Kanu, Kanu is in detention and he said if ‘I leave here and walk out, in less than two hours there will be quietness in the whole of Southeast,’ it’s a challenge that he threw to the government and the politicians, so why have they refused to do that till this day?
“Simon Ekpa as far as I’m concerned, I don’t want to talk about him because he is a content creator and whatever thing they are doing is content creation like he said, acknowledged and accepted. If he had said he is a freedom fighter, then I would know what to say, but at the moment, there is no need for me to talk about him because he is a content creator, that’s it.”
Ekpa and Unknown Gunmen
“They might connect Ekpa to that but I have never seen him to be the main threat because he is being used, he is not the one executing the people. We have security agencies everywhere and there are still attacks, we hear gunshots of people being killed here and there but you won’t see any security agent, so what is their job?
“They are in Biafra land and every hundred meters you will see security checkpoints; when these things are happening, you don’t see them but when it’s over, you start seeing them coming out, that is what’s very difficult for me to understand as a person. The things happening in the Southeast today, unknown gunmen or all these reckless and useless killings are very wrong, but do not forget that Kanu made it very clear that he has nothing to do with Simon Ekpa, he said it.
“So, anybody linking Ekpa to IPOB, I must say that the person is hallucinating because they are trying to see if they can in any way dent IPOB’s image, but I guarantee you that they can’t do it because this IPOB movement is more spiritual than anything the ordinary eyes could see.”
Kanu’s prolonged detention
“Sowore and Sunday Igboho were discharged, so what happened in the case of Kanu? What happened in his own case? That tells you all you need to know that it’s a conspiracy against the Igbos.
“With all these things happening, how would you want the Igbos to continue staying in that same union called Nigeria, this is a pertinent question everybody should ask. That reminds me of what Fela said in one of his songs that people are suffering and smiling, it’s playing out in Nigeria up till this moment; you have to address the core problem affecting not only the Southeast but the whole of Nigeria.
“There is no peace in Nigeria and people are fighting to save a country they don’t know, it’s very sad.
“Their concern is that IPOB is a very strong movement all around the world and most of them are afraid of what will be the effect of his post-release to them, that Kanu commands millions of people in the Southeast and they themselves are saying how will this happen? If we release him what will be our fate as governors elected by the people, that’s why they are campaigning till tomorrow not to release him.
“And I will say that Tinubu is making a very horrible mistake, we have our intelligence and everybody is running for the 2026-2027 elections, does he think he can use Nnamdi Kanu to do politics or within that period say we are releasing him now, that is absolute nonsense. He has done nothing according to the laws of the land so he has to be released honourably and I keep saying that no court can try him because if they had charges they would have presented it, rather they keep recycling it.
“The president is a Yoruba man and it’s about a Yoruba government, call it the Southwest government, the President is a Yoruba, NJC is Yoruba, AGF is Yoruba, so name all of them. He controls the arms of the government, so how do you think that the country will improve? That country can never improve; that is why it’s important that people should tell Mr President to rethink and not inherit the problems of Buhari when he was in office.
“With the insecurity in this country, Kanu remains the big elephant in the house and his issues should not be swept under the carpet, it will not happen. He told them when they asked if he wanted to be the president of Biafra, he said ‘I’m not interested in any of the political positions,’ he said it repeatedly.
“He said ‘the only thing that I want is something good for my people because if we have to restructure Nigeria today along the lines of the 1963 constitution, it’s going to benefit everybody; people will practice what they believe in’. But with the whole games they are playing in Nigeria, borrowing money left, right, and centre, we are not moving anywhere.
“Do you know that the amount of money politicians stole in the last eight years is enough to pay off Nigeria’s debt? Why is nobody talking about it? The EFCC are cherry-picking what they want; why are they not going against these politicians who looted billions enough to settle Nigeria’s debt?”
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